Activists – Now I've Heard Everything

The Fear Gripping America’s Shrinking Middle Class — An Exploration by Barbara Ehrenreich

April 6, 2025Bill Thompson

The wealth gap between America’s 1% and all the rest of us is wide and getting wider. But it didn’t start with us.

At least, not all of us.

In 1989, author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich highlighted the growing struggles of not just the poor, but the middle class. And in particular, the professional middle class, the “white collar” middle class.

What is startling and sobering is that this 36 year old interview foreshadowed so much of what our current economy looks like.

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Get your copy of Barbara Ehrenreich’s book

And of course, in this interview when Barbara Ehrenreich talks about the young people entering the workforce: Gen X, she’s talking about you

Barbara Ehrenreich’s book was called Fear of Falling. I was in my mid-30s when I did this interview and it hit home for me.

So here now, from 1989, Barbara Ehrenreich.

Barbara Ehrenreich died in 2022. She was 81

Elaine Brown And The Evolution of The Black Panther Party

February 26, 2025Bill Thompson

When Huey Newton and Bobby seale formed the Black Panther Party in 1966, it was largely a very masculine male oriented organization. It was a year before it had its first female member.

And then in 1968 a 25 year old woman from Philadelphia joined the black Panther party. Her name was Elaine Brown.

It was largely through her efforts that the party became more female-friendly, and in 1971 she succeeded Eldridge Cleaver as the party’s information minister.

When Huey Newton fled to Cuba in 1974 to avoid prosecution in the US, he appointed Brown chairwoman of the party.

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But the party continued to struggle with male versus female rivalries, and when Newton returned in 1977, Brown had had enough, and left the party.

The Black Panthers dissolved in 1982.

Fast forward to 1993, and Elaine Browne wrote A Memoir called A Taste of Power. That’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1993, Elaine Brown.

Elaine Brown will be 82 next week.

She currently heads Oakland & the World Enterprises, an organization she founded in 2014.

‘The Birds’ Made Her Famous. Rescuing Wildlife Is Now Tippi Hedren’s Life

December 16, 2024December 14, 2024Bill Thompson

Tippi Hedren’s career began with teenage modeling, as she appeared often in popular magazines.

Later she appeared in TV commercials, and one ofd them caught the eye of someone famous and powerful.

One day a Hollywood agent called with the magic words: “Alfred Hitchcock wants to put you under contract.”

Hedren then starred in Hitchcok’s “The Birds” in 1963 and “Marnie” in 1964.

While she was shooting two movies in Africa in 1969,she realized a new life mission: animal rescue.

By 1983 Hedren had established a nonprofit foundation, and had built a wildlife sanctuary of her own, which she named the Shambala Preserve.

In 1985 Hedren published a book about her sanctuary, and the animals she curfates. Her book was called The Cats of Shambala.

I met her while she was on a book tour, and I relished the opportunity to ask her about Hitchcock.

So here now, from 1985, Tippi Hedren.

Tippi Hedren will be 95 next month. She remains in charge of Shambala.

Just Call Him Mike: “MAS*H” Star and Activist Mike Farrell

December 2, 2024November 30, 2024Bill Thompson

Some people become actors. Some become activists. And some, like Mike Farrell, become both.

As a young boy growing up in Hollywood, where his father worked as a carpenter at a movie studio, Farrell was drawn to entertainment early on.

But his home life also ignited a passionate empathy that became a hallmark of his life.

After years of small or supporting acting roles here and there,m Farrell hit the jackpot when he joined the cast of the hit CBS show “MAS*H” in 1975.

Not only did he become one of the most popular cast members, it also afforded him a new public visibility for his activism.

In 2007 Farrell was persuaded to write a memoir, a book he titled Just Call Me Mike. That’s when I first met him.

So here now, from 2007, Mike Farrell.

Mike Farrell is 85 now. And still working.

How Leymah Gbowee Led a Women’s Movement That Ended a Civil War

November 22, 2024November 21, 2024Bill Thompson

If men start the wars, is it up to the women to end them

At the start of the 21st century, the West African nation of Liberia was embroiled in its second civil war. The war left thousands dead, many thousands of others displaced

A young single mother named Leymah Gbowee had enough, and formed a women’s group to press for peace,

Her movement quickly grew, and its peaceful, non-violent efforts – including a controversial “sex strike” – produced a peace agreement in 2003.

And that, in turn, led to the election of the first modern-day female elected head of state in Africa, ElLen Johnson Sirleaf.

For their work, Gbowee and Sirleaf shared the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. That same year Gbowee wrote a memoir called Mighty Be Our Powers. That’s when I met her.

So here now, from 2011, Leymah Gbowee,

Leymah Gbowee is 52 now. And Liberia, although still facing many challenges, continues to make strides toward full democracy.

Actress Gloria Loring’s Fight Against Diabetes

November 1, 2024October 31, 2024Bill Thompson

Gloria Loring started singing professionally in 1960. After years of modest success in that endeavor, in 1980 she joined the cast of NBC’s “Days Of Our Lives,” playing Liz Chandler, a character she played for the next six years.

But if you don’t remember her for that, perhaps you know this song” Loring and husband Alan Thicke wrote that song, and she sang it.

About that same time, though, Loring was stunned to learn that her four-year-old son Brennan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes,

Loring then devoted her time to learning all she could about how to treat, and hopefully prevent, diabetes,.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Today we’re revisiting my 2006 interview with her, when she wrote her book Living With Type 2 Diabetes, a guide for those with the disease and those close to them.

So here now, from 2006, Gloria Loring.

Gloria Loring will be 78 next month. She is a spokesperson for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

A Lifetime Defending Reproductive Rights: Kate Michelman Tells Her Story

October 2, 2024September 28, 2024Bill Thompson

Reproductive rights have never been a more volatile and divisive issue than they are right now.

After the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade decision many states have enacted, or restored, strict anti-abortion laws. It’s become a major campaign issue in the 2024 presidential contest.

And much of this was forecast nearly 20 years ago by Kate Michelman, the longtime head of NARAL, the pro-choice organization founded by feminist icon Betty Friedan.

Michelman retired from NARAL in 2004, and two years later published a memoir, called With Liberty and Justice For All.I had the chance to speak with her when she was on a book tour.

So here now, from 2006, Kate Michelman.

Kate Michelman is now 82. NARAL is now known as Reproductive Freedom for All.

MADD Fpunder Candy Lightner On Death and Grieving/

August 12, 2024August 10, 2024Bill Thompson

Until 1980, drunk drivers in the U.S. frequently got little more than a slap on the wrist.

On May 3,1980 a 13-year-old girl named Cari Lightner was walking to a church carnival when a drunk driver hit and killed her.

Cari’s mother, a 34-year-old woman named Candy Lightner, was appalled to learn that the repeat offender who was behind the wheel probably would face little consequence for the death he caused.

In her anger and grief, Candy Lightner formed a group which she dubbed Mothers Against Drunk Driving, often referred to simply as MADD. And it quickly grew into a powerful grassroots campaign to force states to stiffen the penalties for drunk or impaired driving.

MADD is perhaps the single biggest reason why you now need to be at least 21 to drink legally in every state. MADD claims it has cut drunk driving in half since its founding.

But there was trouble inside MADD. In 1985, Lightner was forced out, after tangling with the organization over what she saw as its increasing focus on bureaucracy.

But candy maintained her work as a victims advocate, and in 1990 she wrote a book about grief and death, called Giving Sorrow Words

So here now, from 1990, Candy Lightner.

Candy Lightner is now 78. She owns her own company, and serves as president of the non-profit We SAve Lives.

Marianne Williamson’s Prophetic Insights: A Woman’s Worth

July 31, 2024July 27, 2024Bill Thompson

The entry of Vice President Kamala Harris into the 2024 presidential race has energized and invigorated millions of American women.

Could it be the culmination of a societal shift that some people saw coming thirty or more years ago?

In 1993 author, speaker, and political candidate Marianne Williamson wrote about the changing landscape of American society in a book called A Woman’s Worth, in which she sought to clarify the critical role women could, and should, play in driving the betterment of our world.

Get your copy of Marianne Williamson’s book

It was the first of several conversations I had with her over the coming years. So here now, from 1993, Marianne Williamson.

Newsweek once named Marianne Williamson one of the 50 most influential Baby Boomers.

She turned 72 earlier this month. She lives in Washington DC.

Andrea Dworkin: Championing Women’s Rights

June 10, 2024June 8, 2024Bill Thompson

The feminist movement that was born in the 1960s had many faces, and many voices. One of the most prominent was a writer and activist whose first book in 1974 catapulted her to prominence.

Andrea Dworkin was an early voice speaking out about violence against women, especially sexual violence. Dworkin is today best known for her analysis of pornography and prostitution.

Dworkin co-founded the organization Women Against Pornography, and was frequently and widely quoted in the media and in other writers’ books.

And she was a dedicated believer in the power of books and reading.

I met her in 2002 when she wrote what turned out to be her last book, a memoir called Heartbreak.

So here now, from 2002, Andrtea Dworkin.

Andrea Dworkin died in 2005. She was 58.